BMW tuner Alpina to offer vehicles locally

Alpina, which works in close cooperation with BMW, will offer its bespoke luxury performance cars in Australia from November.

The BMW-based Alpinas will be sold through the Melbourne-based The In Motion Group, with further metropolitan locations to be announced later in 2016.

The BMW Alpina B4 Bi-Turbo Coupe, based on the BMW 4-Series, and the B3 Bi-Turbo Sedan and Touring models, based on the its respective 3-Series variants, will be the first examples in Australian showrooms. Eight examples will arrive mainly as demonstrators towards the end of the year.

The bespoke models will give potential customers to customise the exterior, interior, drivetrain, chassis, suspension, exhaust and auxiliary components to make a truly one-of-a-kind vehicle.

BMW Alpina B4 Bi-Turbo. Photo: Supplied

All models will be made-to-order in Germany and will be fitted with an individual Alpina production plaque and BMW Alpina specific VIN number.

The move down under by Alpina was flagged last year when Alpina product manager Jonathan Ganser said that Australia was a prime target due to BMW's strong performance and Australia's love of performance-focused cars.

That said, the Alpina vehicles will be less track focused than the M-division models. All Alpinas get the eight-speed automatic transmission, for example, instead of the edgier dual-clutch gearbox used on M cars. And Alpina focuses slightly more on low-end torque rather than top-end power, as is the case with M cars that top the BMW range.

BMW Alpina B4 Bi-Turbo. Photo: Supplied

Instead Alpina targets those looking for something unique and more exclusive with more luxury features included.

"Our customers are typically people looking for a high performing car which is easy to use every day, which offers more comfort … and these are customer which are not looking for an M car – it's too hard core – they don't find a standard BMW unique enough," Ganser said.

Alpina only sold 1700 vehicles globally in 2014, so its numbers in Australia aren't expected to be groundbreaking.

Standard pricing won't be available until later but overseas the Alpina models are priced in the same vicinity as equivalent BMW M models. However, level of personal customisation is expected to determine the price more so than other models.